C3PX said:
I think unknowns were the way to go. And I actually really liked most of the prequel casting. I think Natalie Portman is a decent actress, very beautiful, and worthy to be the mom of Leia. I can't think of any one I would rather have as Padme than her, it is only that... eh... can't get into that, because I don't want to break the rules...

Ewan McGregor was great as Obi-Wan, but under used in The Phantom Menace. He was good enough in the other movies from a looks and ton standpoint, but...

And for Palpatine, who better than the guy who played him in Return of the Jedi? But again...

I also really liked the idea of Samuel L. Jackson playing a Jedi master...

Liam Neeson was downright awesome as Qui-Gon...

Who better to voice Yoda than Frank Oz...

Terrence Stamp as Cancelor Valorum, freakin awesome! Who could possible complain about having Stamp in an SW movie, geek dream come true.

Christopher Lee in a Star Wars movie, seriously, this is some exciting stuff, but...

The only character I'd call into question are Hayden and the guy who played Jango. I haven't seen Hayden in anything else, but I am not so sure he was actually all that bad for the part either, I think the break down was elsewhere..

They could have cast just about anyone else in the role of Jango, like an orangatang for example, or someone with down syndrom, and it would have been a vast improvement. My ideal Clone Trooper template/Boba Fett template/Boba's father would beyond a doubt be Michael Biehn (come on, you all know it would have been awesome). That is always the sort of face I imagined behind Fett's mask.

You know, with the exeption of Jango, I actually felt the casting on the PT was damn near perfect, for the main characters at least. It was probably the absolutely best part of the PT, in my opinion.

Might just be me, but I am thinking the problem with the PT isn't in the casting, but that it lies elsewhere, somewhere... elusive...

Yeah, the casting wasn't that bad, except for Hayden, I thought Sam Jackson was miscast as Windu also, and I actually liked the Jango guy but I hate how they used his voice in ESB. Honestly, Lucas's scripts may have been the biggest issue, but he wrote the scripts for the OT as well, didn't he? I wonder if there's an actor in the world who could make "I don't like sand..." a convincing pickup line...

Also, to clarify, It's okay to prequel bash as long as you address the question.